Clip and hanger structure for buildings

ABSTRACT

A clip and hanger structure for attachment to a building roof, and for disposal in interlocking engagement with each other at at least three locations in a high strength manner enabling the hanger and the structure supported thereby to withstand high upward and downward forces imposed thereon.

United States Patent 1191 Pekarek 1 May 7, 1974 [5 CLIP AND HANGERSTRUCTURE FOR 3,333,803 8/1967 BUILDINGS 3,344,562 10/1967 2,431,01211/1947 Inventor: William a Pittsburgh, 3,612,453 10/1971 Zimmer 248/481[73] Assignee: Aluminum Company of America,

P g Pa. Primary ExaminerJ. Franklin Foss [22] Filed, Oct. 10, 1972Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Elroy Strickland [21] Appl. No.: 296,122

[57] ABSTRACT 2? 248/48'1 52/ A clip and hanger structure for attachmentto a buildd 48 2 300 ing roof, and for disposal in interlockingengagement 0 can 14 with each other at at least three locations in ahigh strength manner enabling the hanger and the structure ReferencesCited supported thereby to withstand high upward and UNITED STATESPATENTS -Meunier 248/48.l

downward forces imposed thereon.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDIAY 11914 sum 1 or 3 PATENTEU W 7 94 sum 2 [1F 3 FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

PATENTED m 7 1974 SHEET 3 [IF 3 1 CLIP AND HANGER STRUCTURE FORBUILDINGS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relatesgenerally to building structures, and particularly to a simple,inexpensive clip providing easy interlocking engagement with a highstrength hanger for supporting separately fabricated overhang structuresalong the edges of a building roof.

It has been a well known practice to prefabricate roof trusses at afactory location and then ship them to a building site. Similarly,modular house constructions with roofs are prefabricated and transportedto building sites. The overall size of the trusses or modular roofstructures is often limited by wide load regulations for highways and bythe width of railroad tunnels and bridges. In order not to unduly limitthe size of the building structure because of the wide load regulationsand clearance problems, it has been proposed that the eave portions ofprefabricated roofs be separately fabricated and installed at thebuilding site. An example of such an eave is shown in application Ser.No. 281,326, filed Aug. 17, l972 by B. C. Merkin, R. C. Ray, M. J Tobiasand R. L. LaBarge in which the eave is a, unitary gutter, soffit andfascia structure attached to the lower edge of a building roof byhangers. Such a structure allows the building and roof to be originallyconstructed without an eave. After the building is constructed, thecombined gutter, soffit and fascia flanges to engage the same ininterlocking relationship. The clip and hanger are dimensioned such whenthe hanger ledge moves past the clip edge, the hooks of the clip movedinto the slots of the hanger wall to similarly engage the hanger wall inan interlocking manner. The interlocking edge and ledge of the clip andhanger enables the hanger, and thus the structure being supported by theclip and hanger, to resist high downward and outward forces and loadsimposed on the hanger and structure. The interlocking hooks of the clipand the rear wall of the hanger prevent the supported structure fromrising upwardly under the force of upwardly directed winds and aircurrents. Further, the strengths of the clip and hanger are such thatthe hanger does not need to be fastened to the truss ends through a rearwall of the supported structure thereby allowing the struc' ture tofreely longitudinally expand and contract relative to the hanger andclip.

THE DRAWINGS The invention, along with its objectives and advantages,will be better understood from consideration of structure is quicklyattached to the building roof to provide it with an eave overhang.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to arelatively simple clip and hanger structure adapted to secure andsupport an overhang structure, such as an eave, gable and/or gutter, toa building roof in a high strength manner that interlocks the clip andhanger at at least three locations. Briefly, the clip comprises a simpleunitary, essentially L-shaped structure with two, opposed edges of afirst wall of the L provided with flanges folded over to provide two,oppositely located and inwardly facing channels, the folded flangeshaving a portion which forms a rearwardly facing edge spaced from thesurface of the wall. The second wall of the L is provided with twospaced integral hooks extending outwardly from and normal to the planeof the wall. The clip is fastened to a roof deck by fasteners, such asnails, extending through the first wall of the clip in the area betweenthe opposed channels, and into the roof deck, and to the end of a trussby a fastener driven into the truss end through the second wall portionof the clip.

The hanger of the invention includes a rear, substantially planarextension of a main body portion thereof for insertion between theopposed channels of the clip, and a forwardly facing ledge provided onthe upper surface of the planar extension. The hanger includes furtheran integral rear wall portion located below the rear extension of thehanger, and forwardly of the ledge, with slots spaced apart a distancecorresponding to the spacing of the clip hooks. To secure the hanger tothe clip, and thus to the edge of a building roof, the rear extension ofthe hanger is simply inserted between the opposed channels of the clipand moved therethrough until the forwardly facing ledge of the hangermoves past the rearwardly facing edge of the clip the following detaildescription in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hanger and clip structures of theinvention shown attached to a building roof and supporting an eavestructure made separately fromthe roof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the clip alone;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the clip;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the hanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the hanger of FIGS.

1 and 4; and I FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of the hanger.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 ofthe drawings, there is shown a clip 10 comprising a first wall portion12 and an integral, depending wall portion 14 adapted to be respectivelyfastened to a 'roof l6 FIG. 2) of a building by two fastening means 18,such as two nails, extending respectively through the two wall portions.The nail in the wall portion 12 extends into the roof deck while thenail in portion 14 extends into the end of a truss 19 (FIG. 1). Two,opposed edges of the first (or upper) wall portion of the clip (whichportion is inclined at the angle of the pitch of the roof to provide anessentially vertical disposition for the depending wall 14 of the clip)has two flanges 20 folded over the wall portion to form two inwardlyfacing, spaced apart channels 22. The flanges extend to a location overthe upper surface of the first wall portion to define a space 23 betweenthe flanges extending longitudinally of the clip. A rear portion 24 ofeach of the folded flanges is shown extending to a location adjacent thetransverse center of the first wall portion to essentially bridge thespace 23 between the folded flanges 20.

In the embodiment of the clip depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bridges ofthe flanges do not join at the transverse center though they might sojoin in an embodiment not shown. In such a case, the wall portion 12 ofthe clip could be formed of two planar portions essentially meeting bynot joining at the transverse center thereof.

Further, the bridge portions bulge outwardly from the folded flanges andaway from the surface of the first wall portion, the bulge inclining orsloping outwardly (or upwardly in FIGS. 2 and 3) from the plane of theflanges 20 in a forward direction, i.e., in the direction of the roofedge and the end of the first wall portion havingthe depending wallportion. The folded flanges have a rearwardly facing edge portionindicated by nu- -meral 25. In forming the bulge in the flange portions24, the metal thereof is work hardened to increase the strength thereof.This increase in strength in 24 is particularly advantageous since 24 isin a critical area of the clip as will be appreciated hereinafter.

, Continuing with reference to the clip 10, the second or depending wallportion 14 of the clip is provided with two spaced apart hooks 26 havingplanar body portions located in planes essentially normal to that of thewall 14. When mounted on a roof deck, the planes of the hooks areessentially vertical and parallel, with the end of each hook pointing ina direction away from the plane of the first wall portion. As shown inFIG. 2, the hook body portions extend along the two vertically extendingedges of the wall portion 14, and have a downwardly facing edge 27between each hook end and the wall 14.

The clip is made of a suitably resilient alloy, such as 5052-H34aluminum, though the invention is not limited thereto. v

The hanger structure of the invention, indicated by numeral 30 in FIGS.1, 4, and 6, comprises an elongated, essentially planar main walland'body portion 32 and a first or upper wall portion 34 formedintegrally therewith along a portion of an upper inclined edge of the'main body beginning at location intermediate the ends thereof. The wall34 extends rearwardly from the main body in a plane substantiallyperpendicular thereto for insertion between the flanges 20 of the clip10. Beneath the upper wall and rear extension 34. of the hanger, themain body 32 thereof terminates in a flange 36 providing a second walladjacent the rear of the hanger and extending in a plane essentiallynormal to that of the main body and intersecting that of the first wall.In the position at which the hanger is mounted on a roof, wall 26 andthe main body 32 extend in substantially vertical planes. The incline ofthe first wall 34 may increase slightly beyond the location of thesecond wall 26, as best seen inFIG. 5.

The forward end of the main body terminates in a hooked flange 38comprised of two wall portions substantially perpendicular to each otherand to the plane of the main body portion.

The main body and first wall portions 32 and 34 of the hanger 30 arepreferably provided with longitudinally extending ribs 42 and 44respectively.

At a location near the rear edge or end of wall 34 of the hanger isprovided a forwardly facing ledge or shoulder portion 45. If the wall 34is provided with the strengthening rib 44, as shown, the ledge is simplyformed by using suitable press tooling to provide an indent and aslanted surface 46 in the rib. The slanted surface is in front of theledge 45, as best seen in FIG. 5 and'inclines upwardly from the bottomof the ledge in the direction of the main body of the hanger. With therib 44 preferably located in the transverse center of the wall 34, theledge, indent and slanting surface is located in the transverse center.The end of wall portion 34 and rib 44 behind the ledge 34 is providedwith a slanting surface 47 similar to that of 46.

The ledge 34 is spaced from the vertical plane of the rear wall 36 ofthe hanger 30 a distance corresponding to the distance between rear edge25 of flanges 20 of the clip 10 and the vertical plane of the dependingwall 14 of the clip.

As best seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, the rear wall 36 of the hanger30 is provided with two vertically extending slots50 having length andwidth dimensions corresponding to those of hooks 26 of the clip 10, andspaced apart a distance corresponding to that of the spaced hooks. Thelocation of the slots 50 in relation to the plane of wall 34 of thehanger also corresponds to that of the hooks and the plane of wall 12 ofthe clip.

In addition, the rear wall 36 of the hanger is shown traversed by ahorizontally extending slot 52, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, locatedbeneath the vertically extending slots 50. As shown in FIG. 5, the slot52 may extend a short distance into the wall of the main body 32, andinto a wall portion 54 formed integrally with the edge of the wall 36opposed to and essentially parallel with the edge joining the main wall.As seen in outline in FIG. 5, the wall 54 maybe slightly angled towardthe main body of the hanger beneath the upper wall 34.

In using the clip and hanger structures of the invention, the clip isfirst fastened to the deck of a roof in the manner shown in FIG. 2, theupper wall portion 12 thereof lying on the surface of the deck, with thedepending wall surface disposed against and fastened to the roof edge orend. Preferably, the clips are positioned over and fastened to the trussand truss ends, such as 19, located beneath the .deck to insurehighstrength attachment of the clips to the roof.

The hanger is secured to the clip and thus to the roof by simplyinserting the rear extension of the upper wall portion 34 into theopposed channels 22 of the clip, with the rib 44 being centered in space23 between the channels. The hanger is moved rearwardly until the ledge45 thereof is located behind the rear edge 25 of the clip flanges 20,and the hooks 26 of the clip extend through the slots 50 in the rearwall 36 of the hanger, as shown in FIG. 1. The sloping bulge of theflange portions 24 of the clip has the resilient characteristic of themetal of the hanger which, in cooperation with the slanted end 47 of thehanger rib 44 and the slope of the flange portions 24, facilitatesinsertion of the hanger wall 34, the rib of the hanger forcing theflange portions 24 apart as the rib passes therebeneathyWhen the ledge45 passes the rear edge 25 of the clip flanges,-the flanges snap backand thus return to a normal position in front of the ledge. With theledge of the hanger located behind the edge of the clip flanges, andwith the hooks of the clip extending through the hanger slots in rearwall 36, the hanger and clip are thus interlocked together at the threelocations thereof. In this manner, the hanger is firmly held by the clipso that nailing of the hanger to the roof is not necessary, the strengthof the combined structure, as thus far described, being limited only bythe strength of the fasteners 18 securing the clip to the roof.

The holding strength of clip is further increased by the above-mentionedwork hardened flange portions 24 thereof, the hardened flange portionsbeing located in front of the ledge 45 of the hanger to resist forcesoperating in a downward and/or outward direction on the hanger.

The clip and hanger structures of the invention can be used to support avariety of elongated structures along the gable and eave edges of abuilding roof in a high strength yet economical manner. With themanufa'cture of module house sections, the clips can be quickly fastenedto the roof edges of the sections at a factory location to arrive at thebuilding site ready to receive the hangers 30 in the process of mountinga separately fabricated eave or gable overhang structure to the housesections.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, the clip and hanger of the invention areshown supporting a structural eave 60, at the edge of roof 16, thoughthe invention is not limited thereto, the eave being a combined gutter,soffit and fascia structure for a building, the walls of the soffit andfascia, in combination with an integral rear wall 62 of the structureforming the gutter. The eave structure is initially attached to the roofby an elongated apron strip 64, suitably fastened to the roof, having adepending wall and return bend portion 65 for engaging a similar portion66 of the rear wall of the eave. With such a structure, the apron stripis first fastened to the roof (at the factory location, for example)before the clips 10 are fastened thereto. At the building site, thehangers 30 are inserted in-clips, and the eave 60 then attached to theroof edge by locating the return bend 66 of the eave behind and ininterlocking engagement with the return bend 65 of the apron strip, andlocating the upper edge of the fascia of the eave (having a return bend68) in interlocking relationship with the hook ends 38 of the hangers.

Since the return bend 66 of the rear eave'wall 62 is accommodated behindthe return bend 65 of the depending wall of the apron, the dependingwall is slightly offset at 69 in a direction extending into the eave.For this reason, the horizontal slot 52 is provided in the rear wall 36of hanger, the slot 52 accommodating the offset portion 69 of the apronstrip, as shown in FIG. 1, when the hanger is attached to the clip inthe interlocking manner described above.

Because of the interlocking engagement effected between the clip hooks26 and hanger wall 36, the hanger need not be attached to the truss endswith fasteners,

such as nails, driven through the rear wall of the eave and hangerstructures and into the truss ends. This leaves the eave 60, which is anelongated metal structure, free to move, i.e., expand and contract pastthe hangers with changes in ambient temperature.

The interlocking engagements effected between the clip and hanger of theinvention provide the structure supported thereby with a high strengthcharacteristic capable of resisting both upward and downward forcesimposed upon structure and hanger. The interlock provided between theclip edge 25 and the hanger ledge 45 strongly resists downward forcesimposed upon the supported structure, while the interlocks provided byclip hooks 26 and hanger wall 36 strongly resist upward forces directedagainst the structure. For example, with upwardly flowing air currentsand wind gusts directed against the underside of eave structure 60, theeave will attempt to rotate upwardly about its location of attachment tothe roof; Such rotation moves the rear wall 36 of the hanger intoimmediate abutting engagement against the downwardly facing edges 27 ofthe clip hooks 26 to restrain rotation of the eave. Under the force ofdownwardly flowing winds or with heavy snow or ice loads on thesupported structure, such as eave 60, the interlock between hanger ledge45 and clip edge 25 is highly resistant to such forces and loads. Thewall 54 beneath the upper wall 34 further resists downward forcesimposed upon the hanger and eave.

To provide the structure of the invention with a further resistancecapability to forces directed upwardly against the eave and hanger, theupper wall 34 of the hanger can be provided with shoulders or ledges 70located in front of the forward ends or edges of the clip flanges 20,and on each side of the rib 44, to engage the flange ends when thehanger is disposed in interlocking enagement with the clip 10. Anytendency of the hanger to rotate upwardly is stopped by the shouldersabutting against the ends of the flanges 20.

While the invention has been described in terms of preferredembodiments, the claims appended hereto are intended to encompass allembodiments which fall within the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention and certain embodiments thereof, Iclaim:

- l. A clip structure comprising: g

a first wall portion and an integral, second wall portion depending fromone end of said first wallportion,

said first wall portion having two, opposed edges provided with flangesfolded over one-surface of said wall to form two, oppositely disposed,inwardly facing channels, with at least a portion of the folded flangesextending to a location adjacent the transverse center of the first wallportion, with the flange portions adjacent the center of the first wallportion being inclined outwardly from the plane of the remaining flangeportions in the direction of the end of the first wall portion havingthe second, depending wall portion,

said second, depending wall portion having atleast two spaced apart,essentially planar, integral hooks extending outwardly from the secondwall portion and away from the plane of said first wall portion inplanes essentially normal to the plane of said second wall portion.

2. The structure of. claim 1 in which the material of the clip is analloy having a resilient characteristic.

3. A hanger structure comprising an elongated, essentially planar mainbody portion,

a first wall portion formed integrally with said main body portion andextending rearwardly therefrom, and a second, integral rear wall portionterminating one end of said main body portion and extending in a planeessentially normal to that of the main body portion beneath said firstwall portion, and a forwardly facing ledge or shoulder portion providedon the upper surface of said first wall portion at a location behindsaid second wall portion, and

said second wall portion having at least two spaced apart slots beneathsaid first wall portion.

4. In combination a hanger structure comprising an elongated essentiallyplanar, main body portion, a first wall formed integrally with at leasta portion of the upper edge of said main body portion and extendingrearwardly from said main body portion for anchoring said hanger to aclip structure adapted to be attached to a building roof, said main bodyportion terminating at one end threof in a second integral wallextending in a plane essentially normal to that of the main body portionbeneath said first wall, said second wall having at least two, spacedapart slots therein, and the upper surface of first wall having at leastone forwardly facing ledge or shoulder located behind said second wall,clip structure for attachment to a building roof comprising a first wallportion and a second wall portion depending from one end of said firstwall portion, with two, opposed edges of said first wall portion havingflanges folded over said portion to form oppositely located, inwardlyfacing channels for receiving the rearward extension of the first wallportion of said hanger, at least one of said flanges having a rearwardlyfacing edge for engaging the forwardly facing ledge of said hanger ininterlocking relationship when the rearward extension of said hanger isdisposed in the channels of said clip and directed therethrough adistance sufficient to locate the hanger ledge behind the flange edge,

the second wall portion of said clip structure having

1. A clip structure comprising: a first wall portion and an integral,second wall portion depending from one end of said first wall portion,said first wall portion having two, opposed edges provided with flangesfolded over one surface of said wall to form two, oppositely disposed,inwardly facing channels, with at least a portion of the folded flangesextending to a location adjacent the transverse center of the first wallportion, with the flange portions adjacent the center of the first wallportion being inclined outwardly from the plane of the remaining flangeportions in the direction of the end of the first wall portion havingthe second, depending wall portion, said second, depending wall portionhaving at least two spaced apart, essentially planar, integral hooksextending outwardly from the second wall portion and away from the planeof said first wall portion in planes essentially normal to the plane ofsaid second wall portion.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which thematerial of tHe clip is an alloy having a resilient characteristic.
 3. Ahanger structure comprising an elongated, essentially planar main bodyportion, a first wall portion formed integrally with said main bodyportion and extending rearwardly therefrom, and a second, integral rearwall portion terminating one end of said main body portion and extendingin a plane essentially normal to that of the main body portion beneathsaid first wall portion, and a forwardly facing ledge or shoulderportion provided on the upper surface of said first wall portion at alocation behind said second wall portion, and said second wall portionhaving at least two spaced apart slots beneath said first wall portion.4. In combination a hanger structure comprising an elongated essentiallyplanar, main body portion, a first wall formed integrally with at leasta portion of the upper edge of said main body portion and extendingrearwardly from said main body portion for anchoring said hanger to aclip structure adapted to be attached to a building roof, said main bodyportion terminating at one end threof in a second integral wallextending in a plane essentially normal to that of the main body portionbeneath said first wall, said second wall having at least two, spacedapart slots therein, and the upper surface of first wall having at leastone forwardly facing ledge or shoulder located behind said second wall,a clip structure for attachment to a building roof comprising a firstwall portion and a second wall portion depending from one end of saidfirst wall portion, with two, opposed edges of said first wall portionhaving flanges folded over said portion to form oppositely located,inwardly facing channels for receiving the rearward extension of thefirst wall portion of said hanger, at least one of said flanges having arearwardly facing edge for engaging the forwardly facing ledge of saidhanger in interlocking relationship when the rearward extension of saidhanger is disposed in the channels of said clip and directedtherethrough a distance sufficient to locate the hanger ledge behind theflange edge, the second wall portion of said clip structure having atleast two integral hooks extending outwardly therefrom in planesessentially normal to that of said second wall, and spaced apart adistance corresponding to that of the slots provided in the second wallof said hanger, said hooks being adapted to extend through said slotsand in interlocking engagement with the second wall of said hanger whenthe first wall portion thereof is directed through the opposed channelsof said clip to locate the edge and ledge of said clip and hanger insaid interlocking relationship.